It was another hum-drum day in COVID-19 instigated isolation.
The masses were losing their shiz in the supermarkets. The aisles had been cleared of loo paper, flour, mince-meat and logic.
Hand sanitiser was as valuable a commodity as a new iPhone and nearing on the same price point as well. Our homes were the safest place to be. For the first few weeks, it was quite lovely having some downtime, until it wasn't.
I had just finished my lunch and was planning my next big project for the day. Dinner. What was I going to use to inject some flavour into that block of tofu staring back at me?
"If the world comes to an end now, is this how I'm going to end my days? Analysing the merits of a soy and honey marinade, or soy and chilli marinade? I will not go down like this. I need to see my friends".
So, I picked up my phone and sent a call out to my old school pal, Kate Gray and our mutual gal-pal Shannon Blyth (whom Kate had introduced me to a few years ago).
"Girls. I miss your faces. Wanna catch up and try out a physically distanced cuppa?"
They both jumped at the idea, with the enthusiasm of lost souls on a deserted island, waving up at the first aeroplane they'd seen in weeks. The next morning, we met up at a café, grabbed our drinks and headed to a local park.
We were like three little ducks, awkwardly waddling along the narrow footpaths. Trying to talk, yet also avoiding walking too close to each other. We weaved around trees, stepped into gutters, continually shifting our pace to ensure we weren't sharing that party-pooping virus.
Finally, we made it to a big picnic table in a park, where we could rest and chat, while still adhering to the rules.
We covered all the relevant points of interest. How had we been dealing with isolation? How nervous did we feel trying on jeans for the first time, after spending weeks in fleecy dacks and lycra? Then, of course, there was home-schooling. Shannon and Kate, being parents of human children, talked about matters of discipline and curriculum; while I, of fur child only, pondered if I should have at least tried to teach my dog how to roll over, or something. At least then, I could have pitched in with a "eurgh; how do dog trainers do it?"
We made our way to the topic of work. Kate was as busy as ever, while my design and writing projects had fallen into an abyss so deep, I didn't even hear a "splash" or a "thud" as they landed (that is unless they're still plummeting). We were sitting on polar ends of the work spectrum. However, it appeared that Shannon had been lingering somewhere in the middle.
As a fashion designer, her work had dropped off, but she'd been able to pivot her offering so that she could keep her business churning. She also dropped in a brief remark about sewing masks. Huh? Say what?
Our time was running out, but I wanted to know more. A day or so after we met up, I checked back in with her to see if she was happy to have a more intensive chat about her business. Oh, and could I share her story via my blog? To my delight, she agreed without hesitation.
Now. Let's take a few steps back so that you get a better idea of who Shannon is.
As previously mentioned, Shannon is a fashion designer. She started her career in Cape Town, then moved to London with her husband, before making her way over here to join us all in Adelaide, where she and her family have settled down in beautiful Belair.
With her charming personality, infectious laugh and genuine warmth, it didn't take long before she found herself among friends.
Shannon released her street-savvy sophisticated style and contemporary elegance upon Adelaide's fashionably astute with the launch of her fashion brand, Limecrush in 2014.
Limecrush was popular not only for its contemporary, fresh and chic styling but also for the couturier service Shannon offered with every purchase. No matter your size or proportions, Shannon's tailoring skills would ensure that every customer left her studio feeling comfortable and confident. She'd tweak, tuck and pin, then send each piece off to her team of South Australian sewers to amend.
Limecrush was the brand, but " Shannon Blyth designed this… ", soon became the tagline, whenever anybody queried where a customer had sourced her snazzy threads. As her business grew, Shannon's appreciation of what Adelaide's women wanted to wear deepened.
Her styling shifted to meet the desire for chic, sharp and timeless pieces that were tailor-made to measure, making each piece a unique and valued investment in every wardrobe they found themselves within.
It was time to embrace the enviable reputation she'd earned and position her business to leverage off it. In 2019, Limecrush was re-branded as "Shannon Blyth".
Amid all of this business activity, Shannon was also teaching our next generation of fashion designers at TAFE SA on a part-time basis and commandeering the schedules of her two teenagers, in tandem with her equally busy husband, Andrew. She was on the go and loving it.
Then, 2020 came along, and COVID-19 flicked the globe off its axis, upon which it had been comfortably spinning.
Shannon was just about to launch her Winter 2020 collection when Scomo told us that we should stay at home instead. Her bi-annual, fun fashion parades were a critical sales generator. Also, her tailor-made to measure service had to be shelved. After all, how can you tuck and pin when you're 1.5m apart? Without these two essential components, what chance did her collection, and her business stand, in the face of COVID-19 restrictions?
"I had two choices before me. Try and find a way to sell my collection or shut my business down, until the immediate threat of this pandemic had passed.
Shutting down my business was taken off the list of options nearly as fast as I had added it.
Fashion is my creative outlet; it energises me. My clients have become my friends, and I love knowing that they feel confident, sassy and comfortable in the clothes that I've custom fitted for them.
I've also worked far too hard to build the Shannon Blyth brand to close it. However, I also felt conflicted. We were grappling with so much uncertainty and grief, that it didn't feel right to be promoting my products, at least in those early days.
I decided that I'd keep my business running, but I would press pause on any immediate production plans and mute all marketing until we had a better idea of what was going on.
This downtime gave me some breathing space to figure out how to respond, and not react, to the shifting parameters within the fashion industry.
At the same time, TAFE SA had to stand down some staff, and since I wasn't on a permanent contract, I was among those that had to go for the duration.
So, there I was, with a lot of time, a surplus of energy, and no way to spend either. I'm a do-er by nature, so waiting this out wasn't an option. I needed a personal project that had some purpose.
During the first days and weeks of the lock-down, personal protective equipment (PPE) was in drastically short supply.
We were seeing images of people wearing masks across the globe, yet we had none to wear ourselves. At the time we were told that we didn't need to wear them to protect ourselves from others, but should we get sick and needed to leave our home for any reason, a mask would provide some protection for anyone we might interact with.
I decided that this could be where I'd channel all that energy, so I started sewing masks for friends and family. They weren't ideal, but they were a viable "if all else fails" face covering, and they provided some level of comfort for those I gave them to. Doing something for others also helped me move through the sadness, fear and frustration of the situation we all found ourselves in".
While Shannon was making the masks, she was also retaining contact with her local business contacts as they explored effective ways to keep the cogs churning. Catherine Hunter, the owner of Willy Wags, on Unley Rd, Hyde Park, asked Shannon if she would be interested in using some of her retail space to display and sell her Winter Collection.
"I hadn't considered selling my clothes off-the-rack in a retail space before. I had established my business with a 'minimal waste' ethos. I didn't want to waste unused fabric, nor did I want to hold excess stock. The only time I sold any of my clothes off the rack previously, was when I was transitioning from one collection to the next and needed to clear out the prior season's sample stock.
This lean approach to running my business served me, served the environment and served my local community. By keeping my overhead costs low, I could continue to employ South Australian sewers and engage with other South Australian businesses for my marketing and packaging requirements".
The team at Willy Wags knew Shannon's brand very well, and the quality of the other products in the store aligned with her high-quality, sophisticated approach to styling. At this point there was nothing much to lose, so she accepted the offer, and is now grateful that she did.
Within a matter of days, Shannon needed to replenish her stock as her original items sold off the rack at a surprising, and encouraging, rate.
Does this mean that the tailor-made to measure service is no longer required?
"Not at all. I'm as dedicated as ever to ensure that every woman who wears a Shannon Blyth item, feels comfortable, confident and at the top of her game. If the measurements that I have on file for my existing customers are still valid, then yes, I will ensure that any purchase they make during this time is still custom-tailored for them.
I trust that anyone who has purchased off-the-rack, who hasn't experienced my full-service offering due to COVID-19, will be so impressed with how flexible and flattering my pieces already are, that they'll come back for further purchases. Hopefully, at that time, we'll be permitted to fit, nip and tuck again. I'm looking forward to it!"
So what's next for Shannon Blyth?
“I don't think anyone can predict what's happening next, so I just have to back myself with what I believe is the best thing for me, my brand, and my family right now. With the changes I've had to embrace for my business to survive, I've inadvertently opened myself up to unexpected opportunities.
In moving forwards, I'm now taking on risks that I wouldn't have considered before. My
‘what's next' is a work in progress, but should it all work out, I'll be jumping onto all my social channels to share my news with my valuable tribe of supporters".
While Shannon is boldly conjuring up plans for her Shannon Blyth brand, she's also re-training herself as Shannon Blyth, the lecturer. In recent weeks, the innovative team at TAFE SA have revived their fashion courses via online classes and have looped Shannon back in to teach some of them. Had she ever lectured via an online classroom before? Nope, but she's proven to be pretty resourceful when flung into unfamiliar territory and is already kicking digital goals for our up and coming fashion designers.
Thankfully South Australia's PPE supply has also been replenished, so there won't be any need for those masks. Regardless, I have one hanging up in my studio as a reminder of what it is to serve others when our survival instincts dictate that we should serve ourselves.
Instead of panicking when the pandemic knocked on our door, Shannon persevered.
Instead of stripping shelves, Shannon sat down and sewed.
Instead of slamming down the brakes on her business, Shannon found a way to take her foot off the accelerator and transition to a speed that's allowing her to drive steadily through these foggy days; with just enough visibility to keep edging ahead a few metres at a time.
It's the entrepreneurs like Shannon who will help to keep our economy ticking over and will continue to inspire others through their actions.
To find out more about Shannon Blyth, and to keep in touch with her hints of big things ahead, please head over to her website www.shannonblyth.com.au and follow her on Instagram @shannonblythfashion and Facebook @Shannonblyth.